CDC Study Finds High Suicide Risk Among Transgender High School Students | Fenway Health: Health Care Is A Right, Not A Privilege.CDC Study Finds High Suicide Risk Among Transgender High School Students – Fenway Health: Health Care Is A Right, Not A Privilege.

CDC Study Finds High Suicide Risk Among Transgender High School Students

A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that nearly 2 percent of high school students identify as transgender, and 35 percent of transgender students have attempted suicide in the past year. According to an NBC News story on the study, the results are based on data from the CDC’s biannual Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance (YRBS) report, which surveyed 131,901 students in 10 states and nine different “large urban school districts.”

The study authors acknowledge its limitations, stating “because YRBS is a school-based survey, students with the highest risk for these outcomes might have dropped out.”

NBC News spoke with Katharine Sloss-Hartman, an staff member at Youth on Fire (YoF), a drop-in center for homeless and at-risk teens and young adults in Cambridge. YoF is a program of AIDS Action that provides a broad spectrum of vital services, supports and opportunities for youth ages 14 to 24.

“It’s easy to forget about folks who aren’t part of the visible, large institutions, like schools,” said Sloss-Hartman. “We should always hope that people have more than one support system. Being forgotten and not having that community can be deadly.”